Genome-wide analysis of DNA 5-hmC in peripheral blood of uremia by hMeDIP-chip

Background: Treatment of uremia is now dominated by dialysis; in some cases, patients are treated with dialysis for decades, but overall outcomes are disappointing. A number of studies have confirmed the relevance of several experimental insights to the pathogenesis of uremia, but the specific biomarkers of uremia have not been fully elucidated. To date, our knowledge about the alterations in DNA 5-hydroxymethylcytosine (5-hmC) in uremia is unclear, to investigate the role of DNA 5-hmC in the onset of uremia, we performed hMeDIP-chip between the uremia patients and the normal controls from the experiment to identify differentially expressed 5-hmC in uremia-associated samples. Methods: Extract genomic DNA, using hMeDIP-chip technology of Active Motif companies for the analysis of genome-wide DNA 5-hmC, and quantitative real-time PCR confirmation to identify differentially expressed 5-hmC level in uremia-associated samples. Results: There were 1875 genes in gene Promoter, which displayed significant 5-hmC differences in uremia patients compared with normal controls. Among these genes, 960 genes displayed increased 5-hmC and 915 genes decreased 5-hmC. 4063 genes in CpG Islands displayed significant 5-hmC differences in uremia patients compared with normal controls. Among these genes, 1780 genes displayed increased 5-hmC and 2283 genes decreased 5-hmC. Three positive genes, HMGCR, THBD, and STAT3 were confirmed by quantitative real-time PCR. Conclusion: Our studies indicate the significant alterations of 5-hmC. There is a correlation of gene modification 5-hmC in uremia patients. Such novel findings show the significance of 5-hmC as a potential biomarker or promising target for epigenetic-based uremia therapies.     

Hamstring tendon autograft versus LARS artificial ligament for arthroscopic posterior cruciate ligament reconstruction in a long-term follow-up

Introduction

Surgical reconstruction has been increasingly recommended for the surgical management of posterior cruciate ligament (PCL) ruptures. While the choice of tissue graft still remains controversial. Currently both hamstring tendon autograft (HTG) and ligament advanced reinforcement system (LARS) artificial ligament are widely used but there are seldom reports on the comparisons of their clinical results. Our study was aimed to assess the effectiveness of these two grafts.

Materials and methods

Thirty-five patients with unilateral PCL rupture were enrolled in this retrospectively study. Sixteen of them received arthroscopically assisted PCL reconstruction using hamstring tendon autografts (HTG group) and nineteen using LARS ligaments (LARS group). All cases were followed up for 46–57 months with a mean of 51 months. Follow-up examinations included radiographic assessment, Lysholm score, Tegner score, International Knee Documentation Committee (IKDC) rating scales and KT-1000 test.

Results

All patients improved significantly at the final follow-up compared with the examinational results preoperatively and there were no significant differences between HTG group and LARS group with respect to the results of radiographic assessment, Lysholm score, Tegner score, IKDC rating scales and KT-1000 test.

Conclusions

Similar good clinical results were obtained after PCL reconstruction using hamstring tendon autografts and LARS ligaments. Both LARS ligament and hamstring tendon autograft are ideal grafts for PCL reconstruction.     

Concomitant mediastinal and extrarenal retroperitoneal angiomyolipomas in a patient who previously underwent ipsilateral radical nephrectomy

The association of the tuberous sclerosis complex with angiomyolipoma (AML) arising from the retroperitoneum and mediastinum has not been reported in the literature. We present the first case in which a patient presented with a combined retroperitoneal extrarenal and posterior mediastinal AML. Interestingly, the ipsilateral retroperitoneal AML emerged 15 years after radical nephrectomy for the left renal AML.     

Spectrum of the inferior vena cava: MDCT findings

Inferior vena cava (IVC) abnormalities are not uncommon. Congential anomalies, thrombosis, neoplasms, and obstructive lesions can involve IVC. With the wide use of multidetector CT, it has demonstrated its ability to display the abnormalities of IVC. Congenital anomalies, thrombosis, neoplasms, and stenosis or obstructive diseases and other abnormalities can be demonstrated by MDCT. We present a pictorial essay to illustrate its roles in detecting and defining the nature of lesions of IVC, from the anatomy to disease spectrum of IVC.     

以三维有限元方法分析骨水泥充填成人股骨头坏死区域的力学变化

目的:用三维有限元方法对磷酸钙骨水泥和聚甲基丙烯酸甲酯骨水泥填充治疗成人股骨头坏死的力学改变进行对比分析。方法:实验于2004-11/2005-11在西安交通大学航天航空学院完成。运用表面提取技术(螺旋CT)建立一个中心性的成人股骨头坏死的模型,分别计算正常股骨头、坏死股骨头以及填充磷酸钙骨水泥和聚甲基丙烯酸甲酯骨水泥后股骨头表面的最大塌陷值。磷酸钙骨水泥的弹性模量分别为1.2GPa,500MPa,聚甲基丙烯酸甲酯骨水泥的弹性模量为2GPa,泊松比均为0.3。结果:①坏死股骨头表面的最大塌陷值较正常股骨头(0.3198mm)增大,位于表浅坏死区的最大塌陷值(0.4110mm)大于位于中层的坏死区(0.3300mm),深层坏死区的塌陷值(0.3222mm)最小。②填充磷酸钙骨水泥初期的股骨头表面最大塌陷值(0.3162mm)较正常股骨头减少,但减少幅度小于填充聚甲基丙烯酸甲酯骨水泥(0.3126mm)。③填充磷酸钙骨水泥吸收稳定后股骨头的表面最大塌陷值(0.3264mm)较正常股骨头增大,但小于坏死股骨头的改变。结论:位于表浅的大面积的股骨头坏死的塌陷危险性最大,其次为中层的坏死区,位于深层的危险性最小。作为填充治疗材料,磷酸钙骨水泥较聚甲基丙烯酸甲酯骨水泥更为合适,但也存在改进的地方。     

加大科研管理力度 促进科技成果获奖——附1994—2004年我院科技成果获奖情况分析

伴随着改革开放的步伐，华中科技大学同济医学院附属协和医院（以下简称协和医院）已逐步建设成为拥有博士、硕士、学士学位授予权的具有较完备学科体系的部属“三甲一医院。肩负着教学、科研、医疗三重任务。科研成果的多少、质量的高低是衡量教学质量．医疗水平的重要标志，也是我院科研实力的具体表现。本丈是对我院1994～2004年获奖科技成果的情况进行一些回顾，从我院科研工作发展的轨迹中，客观地评价科研工作的优势和存在的不足，进而提出相应的对策，以提高我院的科技成果质量、探讨．提高成果获奖率的有效途径。